| Author | Message | ||
| BretM (Bretm)
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Everything eventually leaks oil, it's inevitable. Most machines on earth leak oil quite a bit. Ferrari's complexity will always make it more prone than an American high performance engine (pushrod V8). I think what may be a real key is what Hamlet said about Honda bond. My uncles a professional mechanic and he said to use Yamaha's gasket sealer(same thing). I guess most of the bikes don't use gaskets and instead use this stuff and it's supposed to be damn good. The Ferrari's engine is set up like a big motorcycle engine anyways. | ||
| Hamlet Zadourian (Mysteven)
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Hi guys I agree with you all that I don't drive my Ferrari as much as I like to but it is not because I don't trust its reliability it is because of having to work 6 days 12 hours shift for the past 15 years that kept me from driving it. Sundays had to be spared for the family inorder to keep the marriage intact. I must admit that I miss driving it alot and whenever I get a chance to take it out to Malibu canyon towards pacific coast I feel like I am born again. That sound behind you when you right foot gets a little heavy on the throttle, wow its the second best thing in life and I must admit that is sometimes debateable.But as far as the oil leaks I know one thing that my car does not need a diaper under it and yours shouldn't either. Repairing Ferrari engine oil leaks should not be a regular occurance. Once repaired properly you shouldn't have to do it again for some time to come. If you own a Chevy or Ford you should be accustomed to oil leaks but not to a Ferrari. Hamlet | ||
| Vincent Canipelli (F308vc)
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If you are in Atlanta area and need new seals installed that DO NOT leak , see Evan Ross in Chamblee at Enzo's II, 770 451-4921. He cured my 308GTBi of the drips. He really knows F-Cars. best I've found in atlanta!!! | ||
| magoo (Magoo)
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Peter, I think what Hamlet is saying is that the sealer works. Mileage is not a factor here. Sealing is. But I must admit he doesn't put many miles on it. | ||
| Paul Newman (Newman)
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Its nice to hear that not everyone has a slick in their garages. Ill try that honda bond. Ford has a tube of goop for diesel engines that works very well too and is grey. Ill also use some loctite sealer on the outside diameter of the cam seals to stop any leaks between them and the aluminum. I get to rebuild my water pump too, cant wait. Thanks, Paul. | ||
| '75 308 GT4 (Peter)
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5000mi in 12 years? Thanks for the tip of "Honda Bond". | ||
| Hamlet Zadourian (Mysteven)
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I rebuild my 308 engine back in 1990 and since then I put approximately 5000 miles on it and recently did the T-belts with new water pump,heads re-torqued and adjusted the valves but did not find the need to replace the cam seals. I have never had an oil leak problem with this engine since day one and wondering why so many are having problems. If you are in the process of resealing your engine I would highly recommend using "Honda bond" (silicone)at the engine and transaxle sealing surface,front timing cover,cam seals,engine mount studs and also on the corners of the valve covers which are prone to leak. The Honda bond is gray and matches the aluminum block but most important of all it seals perfectly.You can buy it at any Honda dealers at around $14 a tube which is plenty for the job. Make sure you take your time by cleaning all parts and surfaces with brake clean prior to application of this silicone and don't rush.I promise you will be satisfied. As an auto mechanic I have worked with this stuff for 20 years for many different applications and will not use anything else. Good luck | ||
| Jerry H (Jerry)
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I just bought a 308GTSI!!! (little dance). 88K Miles and not 1 leak. You gotta drive these things. | ||
| Erich Walz (Deleteall)
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Are we sure they are "oil leaks"? Maybe its "oil seepage" designed to keep the gaskets resiliant-that's the company line for older Jags. LOL | ||
| magoo (Magoo)
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Guys, My 79 308 does not leak at all and it sat for 18yrs.. I had a post here sometime back and where the L/R motor mount is bolted into the side of the block the threaded hole was too deep and was barely entering the block cavity. Oil was seeping out around the threads. I r&r the bolts coated them with a sealer and have not had any leaks. Knock on wood the seals seem fine. After hearing the problems other guys have I have been keeping my fingers crossed. This leak had me fooled for sometime and I could not find its origin. If you have leaks in that area you might check it. If it happened to one it could happen to others. | ||
| Paul Newman (Newman)
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Changing the cam seals on the 308 isnt a big deal if you're doing the belts at the same time. Its the seals behind the cam belt drive pulleys at the bottom of the crankcase that require removing the engine and splitting the engine and trans to remove the cover. The seals go in from the inside of the cover and sooner or later, everyone will need to change them. I just wish I felt more confident about the seals I will be installing because its one big headache. | ||
| Ben Lobenstein 90 TR (Benjet)
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When my TR had it's service last year, the engine was (obviously) out and was steam cleaned and left to sit for a bit (like 2 weeks) while we waited for some parts. The tech explained that this was very important as the engine had COMPLETELY drained of oil, not a drop to be found coming off the engine while it rested on the stand. This made a clean dry place for the gasketing materials (along with some form of goop, not nearly the same as my local auto store sells) to seal properly. It was explained to me as that any drop of oil or other contaminant would destory the sealing properties at the point of contact. One year later, my floor is spotless, altho I haven't glanced at the underside of the engine, lately. I'm sure it's clean there too. Just something to add to the topic. -Ben | ||
| Richelson (Richelson)
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I think Peter is right. If you use the car it will be much better for it. | ||
| Peter S�derlund/328 GTB -88 (Corsa)
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I dont think the problem is italian engineering. 50k miles and 13 years and just minor leaks on my 328. The problems will show up if you dont use the car. Its the same with swedish, german, japanese and american cars. Ciao Peter | ||
| Mitchel DeFrancis (4re308)
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My 308 does not leak a drop...of course I just had all the darn oil seals replaced...during the major service.  Prior to the 45k, only the cam covers were leaking. | ||
| Mitchell Minh Le (Yelcab1)
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I am looking at the Distributor seals, o-rings, gaskets. Don't know what to do about the round seals around the camshaft. Toyota and Honda have these same seals that go around the camshafts which also spin at 8000 RPM and they don't leak. I am very sure that adding sealant to the rubber inside ID part is ineffective. I guess just change them whenever they leak at the Timing belt sprocket for example. | ||
| BretM (Bretm)
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They do things that maybe be efficient, light, and fast, but in no way are they even reasonably close to being a good way of preventing things from leaking. They put the spark plugs in the center of the head because that creates the most power (remember why Hemi's used to be faster than Ford and Chevy), but since it's a DOHC they have to use a complex gasket for the valve covers. Same with the deals on the cams going out to the belts and into the rotors, they're obviously gonna leak when you have something metal spinning ridiculously fast against a rubber seal for any period of time. All the sealing surfaces are a little screwy because of the complexity of the engine, trans, diff, design put all together. I'm gonna do the same thing you are Mitchell. Use gaskets with some sort of sealer. I actually think that I might use Yamaha's gasketless sealer that we used to use on our motorcycles. What parts of the engine have gaskets on them other than the obvious (valve cover, cylinder head)? My engine was sealed with silicone to a large extent so I'm not sure if the guy used just silicone where gaskets were supposed to be. | ||
| Mitchell Minh Le (Yelcab1)
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The excuse I get when I mention this is ... all Ferrari leaks. That is a can of BS. It is equivalent to saying Itanlian Mechanical Engineers are so lousy at designing effective sealing surfaces that they are incapable of designing an engine that contains its own oil. THe rest of the industry has figured out how. Sad, but true. My suggestion is (I am doing this too) to apply adequate amount of sealant material to the gasket to ensure better sealing. This has worked on my Porsche 911 and by God is going to work on my GT4. | ||
| Paul Newman (Newman)
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Why cant Ferrari build an engine that doesnt leak oil? I would estimate that 90% of my seals are leaking as Im about to replace them all and I try to look to the future and imagine all the work Im doing might be in vain. I hope that the replacement seals Im cursing and swearing at are at least marginally better than the pieces of cow dung Im removing. Maybe we should all buy a can of engine oil stop leak from the local jobber. Any suggestions on replacement seals? Its alot of work to have to do this yearly and I plan to drive it daily. |